Little Rose, Big Heart
by OpTcPheonix
Summary: When a young girl finds her way to a school for warriors, she finds that more than schooling is on her mind. (slow-ish burn whiterose and bumblebee.)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: This will be the day.**

A gentle zephyr wisped past ebony hair and twirled red highlights in a playful dance. Silver eyes lazily followed a few stray leaves that had floated from the branch of a nearby tree. The young wannabe huntress let out a small puff of air that wasn't quite a sigh. Arms secured behind her head in a blithe fashion. Red cape billowing behind her in a spindling way. The last rays of fading sunlight heated the bottom of her shoulders as she walked down one of the main streets of the city of Vale in the yawning twilight. The street was not that different from many others. People milled about through the tree lined road and a car or two would whizz by every now and then.

A gentle clacking sound could be heard as the large hunk of machinery shifted from its hanging point at her belt. A pale hand clad in black sleeves reached back to adjust the weapon so it wouldn't snag her black skirt with red underlining. Her homemade and greatly prized machinery that she branded in a fight. The ever infamous gunslinging scythe, Crescent Rose. Her own design. With a little help from her mechanically inclined uncle.

The 14 year old girl paused to adjust the custom designed headphones that rested over her ears. Her favorite song playing an intense melody of guitar and raspy voice, spinning a tale of red roses and revolution. The silver eyed teen was headed down the street with no real destination in mind. She was content to wander the streets for a while. Her sturdy black and red boots thumped quietly on the concrete as the sky faded even more to the point of darkness. Purple shades blended into the sky as the final hints of the golden sun faded beyond the horizon beyond the buildings.

The girl puffed a small strand of hair from her face where it fell with the others back to land in a long pixie cut. Her sharp eyes scanned the streets, searching for anything entertaining that may or may not be happening at such a dull hour. An advertisement for cheesy tabloids glared glaring at her from a bright neon sign in the window of a small shop. The Neon sign displayed several magazine cover stories. Ranting and raving about the newest development in a random celebrities life and scandals that occurred in the politics of Anima.

Releasing a sound of interest, the dark headed girl strolled into the door of the little shop with a small bell announcing her arrival. Upon her entrance, the aging shopkeeper looked up at smiled at her. She responded with a wordless smile and pulled the hood of her bright red cape over her head. The shop was simple with a large front window with advertisements and a long front counter with spaciously placed shelves lined with different types of dust. Long narrow tubes responsible for transporting dust into packaging lined the far wall. A long front desk held glowing crystalline dust in large glowing crystals and formations. Dust. The main source of magic and energy in Remnant. Dust was based on elements and was often found in crystalline natural form and ground and condensed into fine powder that was used and a type of enhancement. The elemental based substance could be fused into clothes, weapons, and even a human body, although experiments to accomplish such a feet were seldom successful. The glass bottles and packaged bags housed several different colored powders and substances. All of which gave off a faint glow. The teen made her way through the rows of shelves towards the back of the dust shop to the section that sold cheesy gossip columns and news. The interesting stuff basically.

She grinned silly like as she balled her small fists to her chest. Entertainment in its most interesting form. Other people's lives. She quickly began to browse the many different cover stores that all glared big letters and headlines, desperately trying to catch someone's attention. A Gray and white magazine caught her print made up the headline with a picture of a teenage girl sporting a rapier directly underneath it. Slender hands picked up the tabloid and wide eyes skimmed the front page.

"Newest Innovation at Schee Headquarters." read the smaller print. The young girl on the front cover stood placed, a hand on her hip and rapier drawn to point, an annoyed expression on her pale face. The rose themed girl quirked a smirk and flipped to the page that held the story of Innovations of the famous Schnee family. The rose girl had heard of the Schnee Family. But the most she knew of them was their high standing wealth in the rebuilt kingdom of Mantle that was now Atlas. The same picture of the snowy haired girl was printed on the articles page. A thin scar trickled down the Rapier wielding girls face. Silver eyes narrowed to get a better look at the blemish through the grainy haze of the digital photo. It ran down the center of the white heads left eye. The darker toned girl Hummed before swiveling her eyes to the article on the side of the page.

"New innovation at Schnee Headquarters, Dust combined with metal, The next new Fad?" That did sound interesting to red caped girl. She had often wondered what the affects of using a propellant such as dust would accomplish when paired with her Scythe. She continued to read. Happy to indulge herself further into the realm of remnant politics that lied in the snowy land of Atlas under the Schnee family's roof.

A sudden hand jerking her shoulder around pulled her from her music induced tabloid reading. Her scarlet hood slipping from its position on her head. She spun her head. Eyes widening only slightly.

"Huh?" The teens feminine voice sounded her confusion. In front of her stood a tall man with a black suit and red tie. He had strong jawline and aviators to cover his eyes. The first thing she really noticed about him was his overly tended to Facial hair, that was styled into a trimmed Goatee. The girl narrowed her eyes at him and set her magazine back on the rack behind her. The taller man pointed to his ear in an annoyed gesture. The girl reached up and gently removed her headphones, music blaring slightly louder now that the heavy sound was no longer muffled by the constricting head device. She gazed at him questioningly.

"Yes?" She asked fingers twitching at the sides of her head where her musical transmitters rested at her shoulders.

"I said put your hands in the air" He said heavily, voice holding a slight jersey accent. He scowled, hard, staring at her delicate face.

"Are you, robbing me?" The girl questioned, narrowing her eyes slowly, fingers twitching again.

"Yes!" the strange man bellowed at her, scowl deepening on his face.

"Ooh." The girl again let out an interested sound from her lips in contemplation of her situation, no fear evident in her wolf like eyes.

She smirked, a condescending look on her pale face. She placed her hands on her petite hips and stared at the man before her as if she were staring at a child that had tried to pick a fight with an adult. The goliath of a man grunted at her snarky behavior before lunging forward to grab her. The rose's smirk stretched ever so slightly. She ducked down in squat position and in the fraction of a second that it took for the man to realize his prize had eluded him, the girl rested all her weight on her hands and kicked out both her feet forward. Metal reinforced black boots collided with fine leather suit and sent the impromptu robber sailing towards the front of the store.

The pixie cut haired girl adjusted her crimson sock that had become dislodged before rising to her feet and flicking her cape. The man crashed into a large dust display near the front of the store. He landed in a heap amongst broken shelves and spilled dust elements. Several other shoppers had looked back at the injured man in confusion. Closer inspection revealed these customers to be dressed in the same fashion as the girls failed robber. Standing near the front with anger filled expressions stood at least eight men, dressed in the same overdone fashion of the crumpled man on the floor. A man with a white trench coat and black bowler hat stood at the counter. The dissimilar man glanced at the girls handy work and nodded his head to the man standing closest to her. A slight turn of the head. Orange bangs flicking slightly and cigar puffing as Mr. Mystery Mafia signaled towards the offensive young scythe wielder. A slightly smaller built man charged towards her and stopped just short of her standing position. Pointing a long silver barrelled gun to her nose. Red designs decorated the gun and stared at the girl, the man behind them smirking at the caught prey. The girl frowned and clenched her fists tight. She kneeled down in running position and took off at full speed towards her attacker. Taking him flying through the front window of the store before he could blink, let alone pull the trigger on her. Sailing through the thin transparent material of blown sand, the girl and man both tumbled into the street. Shiny shards of iridescent glass raining around them like a fountain.

Three other men peeked out of the razor edged broken window. All raising a brow and tightening their grips on their pick axe like weapons. The little red girl stayed on the ground a heart beat longer. Long enough to grab the heavy piece of machinery that lay at her waist. She rose slowly, tightening her finger on the small trigger on the handle of her currently folded up weapon. The weapon unfurled in all it mechanical glory. Handle extending and the end curving with added red supports standing stark against the black metal. It curved all the way into a long sharp blade that glinted in the moonlight. Cape flapping, the rose lifted her head and smiled as she opened her stunning silver eyes and glared fiercely at the carrot top man who frowned at her in suspicion. She spun the heavy weapon over her head and swirled it around her body. Twisting and spinning as she went to reveal a weapon like dance. Ending in a proud stance with the end of her deadly scythe dented in the asphalt, creating smaller pieces of the rock flying from the mini crater she created.

The man with the bowler hat looked out at the scythe wielder and thought. His men drew their weapons hastily and stood guard.

"Well, get her." the man ordered.

His men quickly rushed out the door and took up an attack stance. A man near the front shot first. Ruby, used her semblance quickly and dashed away to avoid the hail of gunfire. She fired her scythe/sniper rifle to propel herself forward and slashed the man who had shot at her. She then quickly jumped back to dodge a glowing projectile that the man wearing the trench coat had shot from his cane. Taking this into account, Ruby quickly spun to face her attacker who was smirking and readied herself.

"Well Red, isn't it past your bedtime?" he asked menacingly.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ruby asked cautiously.

The man quickly smiled and shot another projectile at the small girl. When Ruby had recovered, she looked around for the man, but he was nowhere in sight. But when she looked behind her, she saw the man climbing the ladder to a nearby building. Ruby turned around and asked the shopkeeper: "You okay with me going after him?"

He nodded and pointed, the man had reached the top of the building. Ruby nodded and ran after the man. She started sprinting but when she reached the ladder, Ruby decided that it would be faster just to use her scythe. She aimed her massive weapon at the ground and pulled the trigger. Instantly she was propelled upwards and onto the building's rooftop.

The young reaper spun and shouted at the man. The man smiled as his hair and clothes started flying around as if caught in a gale. Then, a huge airship flew up from behind the man and Ruby stepped back. As the man stepped into the airship, he turned and yelled over the noise of the engines.

"End of the line Red!" He then threw a solitary red dust crystal at Ruby's feet. At first Ruby was confused, why would he leave one dust crystal? Then she figured it out as the man aimed his cane/gun at the ground in front of her feet and fired a shot. Ruby instinctively covered her face waiting for the pain to come. But… the pain never came.

Ruby opened her eyes slowly to see what had happened. What she saw surprised her. Standing in front of her was a woman, holding a black riding crop. A purple glyph had appeared in front of her. The strange woman had short blonde hair, wore a white, button up shirt which ended in a purple collar. She also wore a purple cape that was flowing around in the wind, it ended in several arrow-like tails that whipped around as the gale died to a woman then pushed her small glasses further up her nose, and when she waved her riding crop, pieces of the rubble that the red dust crystal had made, formed into one spear-shaped lance and flew at the ship. She then waved it again, clouds started to form over the now stationary airship. Unbeknownst to either of the two standing on the roof. The man in the bowler had climbed into the driver's seat and taken control. Meanwhile a woman, fair, dark haired, and covered in shadow slowly stepped out onto the loading bay of the airship.

To be continued...


	2. Little Rose Big Heart Ch2

**Chapter 2: Ashes and Cinders**

All that Ruby and the woman could see of this new foe was her eyes, which glowed orange like burning coals, and her clothes, which glowed as if lit up by a non-existent candle. The woman carried no weapon, and didn't use any dust. As the sharp, concrete projectiles flew towards the ship, she simply waved her hand and the shards of roofing disintegrated. Quickly, the woman standing with Ruby waved her riding crop once again and the shards re-formed themselves and split off into three snake-like tendrils which ricocheted off the left wing. The woman re-doubled her attack, this time coming from the right side. Ruby expected this to be the end of the ship and the woman. Nothing could possibly withstand such a beating and still function properly. But she was wrong.

This time, the dark woman merely held her hands together. Immediately, a circular glyph surrounded the woman it was dark orange in color, like a burning ember of a dying fire. She then motioned her hands out and an explosion of fire destroyed the remaining shards of roof. Ruby was astonished, how had she done that? Ruby however had no time to ponder this as her thoughts were interrupted as the dark haired assailant pointed her hand at the ground to which the young reaper and the unknown savior were standing. What looked like glyphs appeared around the two girl's feet and started to scream as if hundreds of lost souls were trapped within them. The woman standing next to Ruby quickly pushed Ruby out of the way as the glyphs simply exploded. When Ruby stood up, she quickly looked at the woman standing beside her. The woman nodded, and Ruby turned her scythe into its sniper form and fired a few shots at the dark woman. The woman held up her hand and the bullets just, disappeared. Then the door of the airship started closing and the airship quickly took off. Ruby then lowered her weapon.

"Y-You're a huntress?" Ruby voiced hesitantly. The woman nodded again and put her riding crop away.

Ruby's eyes lit up, "Can I have your autograph!"

* * *

The next thing she knew, Ruby was sitting at a desk. She didn't know why she was there at all. Maybe to reward her? Who knows.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, I wanted to ask you a few questions." Glynda snapped.

"If it were up to me, you would be sent home with a pat on the back…" she paused.

"And a slap on the wrist!" Glynda then smacked her riding crop against the table violently. Ruby recoiled at the sudden gesture.

The blonde woman sighed, "But, there is someone here that would like to speak with you."

A tall, grey haired, man wearing a green coat with a small, intricate, clasp. He walked forward holding a cane in one hand, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies in the other. When he reached the desk he paused, then set the plate on the table, and put the cane down next to the table.

"Ruby Rose… you have, silver eyes." The man said quietly. Ruby was very perplexed at this sudden thought. She mumbled incoherently.

The grey haired man then leaned forward.

"I'm curious as to how you come to posses the skills you have shown." He took a breath and continued. "How did you learn to do this?" he asked cautiously. He held out a tablet to show Ruby a playback of the fight with the henchmen.

"Umm, Signal Academy." she stammered.

The man raised his pronounced eyebrows and asked. "You learned how to do that at signal?" "You learned how to use one of the most dangerous weapons known at Signal?"

Ruby quickly answered. "One teacher in particular."

"The only person I know to posses this skill, is a dusty old crow."

"Mmm! Das my uncle." Ruby explained through a mouthful of cookie. She quickly swallowed, wiped her face and said again. "That's my uncle Qrow, he's a teacher at Signal."

"Do you know who I am?" the man sitting across from Ruby asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin, headmaster at beacon."

Ozpin smiled, "Pleasure to meet you."

"You too sir." Ruby quickly answered.

Ruby then explained how she only had two more years at Signal, then she was going to apply to Beacon. She may have gotten a little bit emotional as to her reasons were.

Ozpin leaned forward again. "You want to come to my school?"

Ruby replied longingly. "More than anything."

Ozpin looked at Goodwitch and smiled. "Well all right."

* * *

The airship that Ruby was sent home in shook violently, as Ruby, quite literally bounced off the walls and floors. She had been so excited at being accepted into Beacon at all, let alone two years early! When they finally landed, (thankfully) Ruby couldn't wait to run in to tell her family the news. When she ran inside, almost knocking the door off its hinges, she ran to the kitchen where her father: TaiYang Xiao-Long. He looked up from what he was doing and smiled.

"There you are kiddo! I was starting to get worried, then I remembered what you can do with that scythe."

Ruby beamed brightly and hugged her dad.

"Sowwy." She winked. Then she remembered what she came to say.

"Oh Dad! Guess what?" She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet.

"Something good based on the state of the door." He chuckled and looked at the broken door, which promptly fell over.

"Igotacceptedintobeacon!" she was speaking so fast it was hard to tell what language she was speaking.

"What? Slow down, I can't hear you." He laughed.

Ruby took a breath and explained what had happened in her absence. She lingered a little bit too long on how she fought off the men at the store. Ruby had a tendency to over exaggerate when she was proud of something she accomplished. Like the time she finally landed a hit on her uncle Qrow during many of the sparring matches the two had participated in. Qrow insisted that a bug had flown in his eye. But Tai, Yang, and Ruby all knew that Ruby had actually landed a blow on a full-fledged huntsman!

"That's… That's amazing! My own daughter is going to Beacon. You are more like your mother than I thought." He looked sad and happy at the same time.

Ruby couldn't think of how to console her dad, so she simply replied, "Yeah."

"Well this changes things!" Tai said raising his head.

"Y-yeah, sorry…" she said looking down.

"No no! I'm happy for you! How many people get accepted into Beacon two years early?" He held Ruby's shoulder.

"But you'll be alone here…" Ruby said sadly.

"It's fine, I have been alone before. I might actually get some peace and quiet for a change!" He said jokingly.

Ruby smiled but didn't say anything for a while. "I should go tell Yang! She'll be so excited!" she broke the silence.

Her father looked surprised and replied. "She isn't here. She's out riding Bumblebee."

"O-Oh, well." Ruby replied hesitantly. "When will she be home?"

"Not for a while, she was having a… interesting day." Tai said falteringly.


	3. Chapter 3:The Sparks That Light the Pyre

Yang staggered back, wiped her nose, and looked at the man on the ground.

"That'll teach you to mess with a Xiao-Long!" she spat.

The man on the ground groaned and rolled over clutching his chest, panting. Yang turned around and walked back toe dance floor where the te bar. She ordered a drink from the backup bartender that Junior had hired for moments like these, seeing as Junior was currently on the ground 20 feet away. She was about to take a drink when Ruby burst in the door, panting and followed by a trail of rose petals.

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Ruby explained. She was out of breath and looked like she was going to pass out.

"Ruby? What are you doing here? Where's dad?" Yang stammered, worried about what her father would say if he caught her drinking again. The last time that happened… let's just say that Yang's room needed a makeover anyway.

"Dad is at home, he said you had an interesting day, I wanted to know what happened!" Ruby said innocently. She didn't know that "interesting" meant bad. Oh Ruby, she sometimes reminds me of when she was a toddler.

"Yyyooouuu could say that, I would rather not talk about it though." Yang answered hesitantly.

"Oh! Why not?!" Ruby persisted.

Yang facepalmed and replied that she just didn't. Ruby nodded and smiled. She then sat down with her sister and ordered the sweetest drink she could. After they finished, they headed back home.

* * *

Yang sighed as she pulled off her helmet; shaking her head to dispel her helmet hair. Ruby hopped off Bumblebee and looked back at Yang, waiting for her to follow.

"Remember Rubes, not a word to dad." Yang threatened.

Ruby nodded in understanding as she opens the front door and greeted Tai. He looked cautiously at his older daughter, not knowing if she would explode or not. She sighed and bid her hello to her father; walking up the stairs towards her room silently. When she reached it, she flopped on her bed and stared at the ceiling consumed by thought. Why had Qrow not told her sooner!? It felt unfair, she felt cheated.

Yang shook her head to rid her brain of these thoughts, when she opened her eyes, she saw a set of silver ones inches from her own. At this point, most people would have jumped, screamed, and fallen off her bed. But Yang was used to this by now.

"Hey Rubes." Yang sighed.

"Hi sis! What's going on, you look depressed." Ruby said worriedly.

Yang just sighed and closed her eyes again. She did not want to involve her younger sister in her personal drama. She was just about to reply, when she felt a small, warm, hand caress her large shoulder lightly. Ruby just sat and looked at the blonde brawler with concern in her eyes. She may not know what was bothering Yang, but she knew enough not to press. Yang just sighed and closed her eyes again while the younger girl hugged her in a sisterly manner. Ruby decided not to bother Yang anymore, so she stood up and walked back downstairs where her father was waiting.

"Did you tell her?" Tai asked.

"No, not yet. I'm going to wait a little longer so she actually listens to me." Ruby replied.

"Alright, that's probably a good idea. You know how she gets when she gets… upset."

Ruby just nodded and sat down munching on one of the cookies that Professor Ozpin had given her.


End file.
